re: Will Über change the modern day taxi service?

Yep & LSU is huge Omaha. Hometown favorite dating back to the 90s when our fans traveled en masse, even when the team didn't make it. So whenever we actually are there its a wild time. If you're in Iowa its definitely worth a trip one summer. Bring the homeless guy


So is this uber deal cheaper than regular cab service? Just Dl'd the app... going to play around with it.

It's quicker and you rate the driver. You also can see exactly where you car is at on it's way to pick you up. You also pay with your credit card that is registered with the app.

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True, but it won't ever make it's way into large markets like NYC that have the medallion system in place.

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They're already in NYC in a big way, but the market dynamics there are quite a bit different than most other places:

1. There are loads and loads of cabs already, so all you really have to do is step outside onto the curb and you can flag one down in most places in thirty seconds or less instead of contacting an Uber car and having to wait for them.

2. Spider-web of subways - sometimes a sub is easier than any car (Uber or taxi) because of the traffic on Manhattan

3. Pretty much the entire city is very walkable.

Uber has very much disrupted the market here in Chicago. It does very well here because we are a little more spread out than NYC but still very dense and only have seven major train lines that spiral out in a spoke/wheel manner from downtown, leaving a lot of dead space of public transportation throughout the city. Uber here offers all five services (Uber, UberX, Taxi, Black, and SUV). The Chicago Uber model is probably the model of the future - the taxi companies and Uber are in a more symbiotic rather than adversarial relationship. I'd bet that the taxis affiliated with Uber here are making more money now than they were before.

Everyone I know only uses Uber unless they need a last second ride and happen across a cab

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True, but it won't ever make it's way into large markets like NYC

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It's already in NYC

It's faster and I've found it to be about 50-60% of what a taxi costs depending on head count, which is ubers real advantage, no fees for additional passengers.

I've never been to the CWS, Iowa has a terrible tradition with BB. I'm also residing in the glory of Texas. You can't handle Elliuth, nobody can.

I wouldn't think in a city like Las Vegas or New York it would matter, but you can't get a cab in Detroit, and I was stunned when a friend was using Uber about a month ago and getting us rides all over town within ten minutes.

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Nice. What a business model by the way. Complete gamechnger, esp. for our generation.


Does it get more expensive late night? The cars are privately owned and drivers just ind. contractors? They charge your card and I assume you just throw the driver a tip? Already linked with my PayPal acct. can't wait to try it.

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Tip is automatically included everywhere I have been. That's one of the simple geniuses of the system....no physical exchange of money in any form, so no hassle or prodding or whatever. Everything is understood beforehand.

And yes, Uber will definitely use dynamic pricing models. They will charge a whole lot more on St. Patrick's Day or New Year's Eve, for instance (the cabs do the same here, though).

I was staying with a college friend of mine - very much tied into the VC world in SF - in San Francisco for several days in 2010 when Uber first launched there. It seemed like magic back then, and all the cars were badarse, $50,000+ late models. All I could think of was how much opposition they would face when they started pouring into other cities, but so far, though they've encountered quite a bit of obstruction, they've actually had less friction than I thought they would have.

Uber is the tits

Gratuity is always included in the price.